Numbskulls
A downloadable game
You and your Skeleton Crew are the minions of the great and powerful Necromancer! Your duty is to fulfill their wishes to the best of your ability, the only problem is Necromancy is forbidden, so you must pretend to be human while out in public spaces.
About
Numbskulls is a single page tabletop game for a Game Master and 2+ players that uses cartoon logic and slapstick failures.
It is rules-lite , fail positive game which features two distinct ways in which a skeleton can fail their tasks.
The game also includes a Character Sheet which doubles as a coloring book page for disguising your skeleton and decorating your gravestone.
Basic Info
Gm: Yes
Players: 2+
Sessions: Single
Items Needed: 2d6, optional crayons/markers
Actual Play and Videos
The Top Shelf- A One Shot Campaign for Numbskulls and a discussion of Tiny Tome
Special Thank you to Samantha Leigh for the TikTok Review featured at the top of the page!
This game is published under the CreativeCommons 4.0 Attribution License
I.e. You may hack, modify, and make supplementals for Numbskulls and charge for it as you see fit
For Free Character Sheets Click Here!
12/2/2021 Update
Created and Uploaded A5 PDF for the Tiny Tome Jam
Contact: @KadenRamstack
Special Thanks to John Harper's Lasers and Feelings for one page layout inspiration
This game is published under the CreativeCommons 4.0 Attribution License
Not interested in skeletons? Try Gull Squad, a game about seagulls saving a restaurant, instead!
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
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Community Copies
Please take one, no questions asked!
If none are available, let me know and I will refill it!
Comments
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Have played this a couple times and it's now one of my defaults to spin up one shots for. So far I've had players run interviews for new employees at the necromancer's magic shop and handle the necromancer's burgeoning success as a baker (they like to watch things rise!) and manage a local news crew's visit to the bakery...can't wait to see what the skeletons get up to next :D
I love this spooky, funny, little game!!!
I find extremely elegant the system of success/failure and the eventual consequences!
I'm planning to run some one shots for kids during halloween season in my library and to do so I'll need to translate it in italian, would you be interested if I share the translation with you?
Ran tech for a group streaming this last night and it was laugh after laugh and crazy antics. A great one shot all around and saw our players want to start a campaign lol. Keep up the great work!
This game is fun and silly. I was a little nervous about running it, as we had a player brand-new to ttrpgs, but he took to it like a fish to water and I'm really glad he had this introduction as it allowed him to understand how diverse they can be. Truly a delightful game to play and I cannot recommend it more!
Great game! My kid and I had a lot of fun getting up to some skeleton shenanigans, and I would definitely recommend for anyone to try out. I also did a full review here on my site - I hope it helps!
https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2022/10/28/tiny-tome-tiny-review-numbskulls-an-all-age...
This game is so much fun! The simple rules make it really great for collaborative storytelling, and as an improv-heavy GM the game works really well with zero prep. The character sheets are perfect for setting the tone and I love the space to design your skeleton’s disguise. Bring crayons/colored pencils for even more fun at character creation!
Numbskulls is a true delight! Very silly, good for all-ages, and perfect for Halloween (or anytime you want to play as a skeleton, which is all the time for me).
The character coloring sheet is such a wonderful idea, I'd love to see this in more games!
Numbskulls is an all-ages-friendly two page rpg about skeleton minions pretending to be human in order to accomplish a task for their necromancer master.
That's some strong Three Raccoons In A Trenchcoat energy right off the bat, but there's more going on in Numbskulls than just covert antics. The skeletons have a (by default fairly warm) relationship with their necromancer, and the necromancer's goals are pretty mundane (go on a date, host a party, become mayor,) so the hijinks are grounded in a sense of family.
For the dice, conflicts are rolled with 2d6, and the goal is to land in a specific range. Skeletons start with a 7--8 range, but they can expand their Physical, Magical, or Social ranges by spending points at character creation. Rolling too low means you act too skeleton-y and scare people, and rolling too high means you act too human-y and draw a crowd.
All of this information is packed a little densely into Numbskulls' PDF, but it's still plenty readable.
And there's also still room for art, by the way. *And* the art is exceptional. It's charming, energetic, whimsical, and has a ton of character to it. I would buy a whole book of the art alone.
Speaking of character, the game's sheet (which is the second page of the PDF) is absolutely fantastic. It tracks your stats, but it also has a giant skeleton for you to draw an outfit onto, plus the whole thing uses a lovely front-and-back-of-a-gravestone aesthetic which is not only thematically neat, but you can stand it up and position your character sketch to face the rest of the table and your stats to face you. This is brilliant, and honestly it's one of my favorite character sheets full stop.
Overall, Numbskulls feels like an incredible synthesis of Three Raccoons In A Trenchcoat, Honey Heist, and Lasers & Feelings. It's got a fun setup, it feels extremely easy to play, and it's accessible to all ages / levels of familarity with rpgs. If you like wacky, charming one-shots, this game should be in your library.
This was a fantastic review, and convinced me to play this game before I even cracked open the rulebook. In the end, the thing that most convinced me to play the game, is the fact that you took the time to write such a thoughtful and compelling review. Thank you for writing it
It's a super good game, and I'm glad my review was helpful!